Vehicle structure



Nov. 16, 1937. W' M SHEEHAN VEHICLE STRUCTURE Filed Aug. 14, 1935.

Y e Patented Nov. 16,l 1,937

UNITED STATES f PATENT oEFlcE 2,099,145 VEHICLE STRUCTURE WilliamSheehan, Merion, Pa., assignor to General Steel CastingsCorporatiom'Granite City, Ill., aY corporation of Delaware ApplicationAugust 14, 1935,7Seral No. 36,050

1a claims. (c1. 10s- 364) lThis invention relates tolrailway vehiclesVand particularly tovehicles intended for industrial4 service.

Cars in certain types of" service-,such as in sagevover tracks` havingsharply changing grades.Y

l I f a plurality of the vehicles were coupledrtogether by means ofordinary draftV devices secured to the ends of the cars, the humpsanddef pressions resulting from the grades, and the sub-*- stantialvvoverhang `of'` the, bodies beyond. the

l5 wheels, would Ycausethe'bodieslto interfere,.re sulting in bindingonderailment. On existing types of cars, this is avoided throughthemedium L Y of a hooked bar pivote'd'gon the exteriorof the car side Wallnear the center ofthe car. The hook 20 at the other end, which isnotfree to move vertically,V is anchored to the same connection, thusequalizing thev load on the pivot pin. The hooks f extend the fulllength of the car and as the over all Widthof the ca r usuallyislimited'by'clearance conditions, thel arrangement describedfresults in reducingthe inside Width of the car with a consequent reduction in capacity..

'I'he main object of the present i'nventioneis to eliminatetheabove-mentioned interference 3b' between vehicles Vandfincrease theircapacities by relatively simple and Ainexpensive means.

Another object ofthe invention is to transfer,`

the draft forces in cars vof this type from verti- A cally movablecoupling elements through the car L framing rather than through the Vcarside walls.

The framing usually lis of heavier construction than the side walls andAis better adapted to Withstand draft forces than the side walls.

A: f The'invention'Y isY applicableY particularly to 40 mine carsin'which maximum body capacity is desirable` o A more `detainee 'objectis to providea vehicle( draft Vconnection Acs ipableof movement transeverselymof its axis, -relative to thevehicle body, ,45 Withoutrestricting. the capacityY o f the vehicle.

Y Y'Ihese objects and others are attainedsubstanf' is a partial endviewof car- Figure 4 is a detailed horizontalsection taken on the line4-4 of Figure 2. e f Figure 5 is a'diagrammatic view showingV apairl ofcars coupled together.

The car illustrated includes body side and end Walls I4 and-2, of steelsheets, and an under-con- Y struction comprising anV integral castingforming a seamless bottom Web'with upstanding'sides. The body Walls arereinforced with framing members comprising vertical side posts 3, cornerposts 3a., and cornerV posts I2AI3. A hori` zontal reinforcement 4extends around the top of two sides rand'onev end of the car body. The

other endrof the car body is open and is provided` iof.

hinge posts as Well as for reinforcing the door-v l Y Way to resistbulging.

` The under-construction casting has upstanding sides recessed forWheels B which are mounted on stub axles 1. The ends of theunder-construction casting mount buffers 8 and have safety draft hooksI0 located at Ythe centers of the car ends. Themupstanding sides of theunder-construction casting are deepened substantially near` eachend ofthe car to form brackets 30 and 3|, and stationary draft hooks 9 areformed integrally With the left hand brackets 33. These hooks aredisclosed in my copending applicationSerial No. 668,258, filed April 27,1933. Y Y.

The composite corner post at the right hand end of the car comprises apair of Z-bars I2 and I3 with their outer flanges overlapping and theirinner flanges secured tothe body side wallV I and extending the fulldepth of bracket 3l to Which they are secured.

The web portion of Z-bar I3 is vertically slotted, as at I4, foraccommodating the shank portion of a draft device I5 having a hook I6atV its ,outer end with vits tip'portion offset loutwardly to facilitateattachment of a draft chain. l The inner portion of the draft device isvertically enlarged, as at I`I,` and receives a" pair of Vverticallyspaced bearing shafts I8 and I9 rotatably mounting the pairsv of rollers20 and 2l. .The upper, larger n rollers 20 t relatively closely betweenthe spaced web portions of Z-bars I2 and I3, and the lower, smallerrollers 2| bear against the innermost Z-bar I2 only. Rollers 2D and 2|serve as antifriction bearings cooperating with track-formingv membersI2 and I3 to facilitate relative vertical movement of hook device I5.The rollers also *funtgii to stabilize the movable hook vertically aswell as transv-ersely. Vertical movement of the draft hook is limited atthe top and bottom by stops 22 and 23. Sliding shoes or other bearingmeans may be substituted for the rollers.

Longitudinal draft forces are transmitted from hooks I5 and corner postsI2-I3 direct to the under structure casting 5, which is a rigidstructure substantially stronger than the sheet metal superstructure.and Well adapted to. transmit the. longitudinal forces from movablehook Iii-I1 at one end of the car to the fixed hook 9 at th-e other endof the car, thus relieving the car side f walls of any draft forces andeliminating the necessity of continuous draft members in addition to thecar framing.

Figure 5 shows a pair of 'cars1-24fandi25", located upon a section oftrack of sharply changing grade and coupled together by side 'chains2Bsecured to the stationary hook 9 on the car 24, and thel post. 3 whichis. substantially shallower than the.

cornerpost. Hence the majorportion ofthe side wall.. isl locatedVamaximum distance from the longitudinal center line ofthe car and thecapacity of. the car. isincreased accordingly.

Theweight ofthe. long draftl members previously-l usedisavoided, as arethe. unfavorable features attending the mounting of these hooks on themiddle portion of the car wall-at a substantial. distanceJ above the.underframe.

The carsmay be coupledcloser together than would be. possible where bothdraft connections are vertically immovable, without danger ofinterferencev between the adjacent upper corners ofthecar bodywhenpassing over sharply changing grades of increasing slope.

The movable. draft hooks are preferably located at one end only of thecar, as illustrated, but. these-maybe. provided. at both ends,ifdesired, and a single movable hook maybe provided at thecenter insteadofthe pair of. side hooks shown.

'Ihevbrloadv4 features off the invention may be embodiedv in a draftvconnection arrangedA to move. horizontallyinstead ofl verticallyV tofacilitate passageY over tracks having sharp horizontal curves.Obviously, the invention may be applied to. other types of railwayvehicles, the mine car shown in the drawing beingmerely for the purpose`of illustration.

Other modifications may be made in the illustrated structures withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and the exclusive use ofallsuch modifications coming within the scope ofthe appended claimsiscontemplated.

What is-claimed'is:

1. `A vehicle body including anunderframe and anupright cornerpostmember having a bearing formountingavertically movable draftconnection and for transmitting longitudinal forces from said connectionto the .remainder of thevehicle.

2. In a' vehicle, corner posts at opposite sidesof oneend of thevehicle,each post. having' transversely spaced bearing tracks, and a pair ofupwardly and downwardly movable draft connections slidably mounted onsaid tracks for transmitting longitudinal forces to the vehicle from anadjacent vehicle.

3. In combination, a vehicle body framing having an upright bearingtrack at each side of the vehicle, and draft connections permanentlyassembled with: said framing and movable upwardly and downwardly alongsaid tracks for transmitting longitudinal forces to and from thevehicle.

4. In a. vehicle, an angular corner post member at one -end having atransverse part forming a bearingltrack; andaa'draft device mounted onsaidvehicle and'V movable along said member and including ananti-friction element having a bearing on said transverse part fortransmitting longitudinal forces therethrough to the vehicle.

5. In a vehicle, a body framing, a relatively stationarydraftconnectiorrat.oneend. of said framing, a bearing track at the otherendof. saidframing, and a draft connection mounted onA and. movable.upwardly and downwardly along saidv track for normally transmittingdraft. forces therethrough to the vehicle at various levels.

6. .In combination, a vehicle body, a vehicle upright corner poststructureincluding a part facingY longitudinally of. the vehicle, and.adraft. connection mounted on said-structure andextendingthrough saidpart and movable vertically along said part for transmitting draftforces therethrough to the vehicle body.V Y

7. In. a. vehicle of theclassdescribed, a: side Wall having a restrictedend. portion offset inwardly of the vehicle, and a vertically movabledraftv element mounted on the exterior of said end portion and locatedinthespace afforded bythe offsetV between said end portion and the planeof the major portion of said Wall.

8. In a vehicle of the class described,l a-body side member, a draftelement mounted on said member to move vertically along the same, theside wall of the vehicle at the rear of. said', elementiA beinginclinedoutwardly toward the longitudinal plane of the outer portionofsaid member to increase the capacity of the vehicle body withoutincreasing its over-al1 width across said member.

9. In a vehicle of the class described, a rigid, longitudinal forcetransmitting under-structure, relatively light superstructure side wallsmounted thereon, a corner post on said superstructure secured to saidunder-structure,V and a draft device on said corner post above itsconnection tosaid under-structure, the connection between said cornerpost and'under-structure being constructed and arrangedto transmit arsubstantial portion ofthe longitudinal forces received from anadjacentvehicle directly to saidunder-structure and vice versa.

10. In a vehicle of. the classV described, an underframe ofrelativelyheavy construction, a superstructure of relatively lightconstruction, a corner post connecting said underframe andsuperstructure, and a draft device mounted on said corner post to slidevertically thereon and arranged to transfer draft forces from anothervehicle to said corner post, there being a connection between said'Vcorner post andisaid underframe constructed and arranged to: transmit aVsubstantial part of such forces through said underframe to the other endof the vehicle.

11. In a vehicle of the classV described, an underframe comprising aone-piece web withanV and means on said post for attachment of a `drafty Vupstanding side, relatively light superstructure K mounted on saidside, a portion of saidV side being deepened to form a bracket, a cornerpostl mount# ed on said bracket and extending upwardly Vtherefrom, and adraft device mounted on saidcorner post to slidefvertically along thesame above the level of said underframe, the connection between saidpost and bracket being constructed and arrangedto transfer a substantialportion of the longitudinal forces received from another vehicle betweensaid post and side.

12. In a vehicle of the class described,va post adjacent a corner of thevehicle, an upright Wall structure on the inside of said post, andinclined outwardly therefrom longitudinally of the vehicle,

device andlocated inwardly of the same general vertical plane as theouter portion of said Wall.

13. In a vehicle'of the class described, a relatively heavy underframe,aA relatively light to said underframe and projecting upwardlytherefrom,l a device on said post for 'a coupling chain, -said` post andits connection to said underframe being arranged to transmit draftforces from said device to said underframe inde 5 superstructure sideWall, a corner post anchored v pendently of said superstructure sideWall, said y device being movable .along said post above the level ofsaid underframe.

WILLIAM M. SHEEHAN.

